In the chronicles of South Africa’s history, the name Helen Beatrice May Fennell Joseph shines like a guiding star, illuminating the path towards justice and equality. For forty years Helen Joseph dedicated herself single-mindedly to opposing apartheid. Her commitment earned her the ANC's highest award, the Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe Medal.
Helen Joseph (8 April 1905 - 25 December 1992), a fearless anti-apartheid activist, dedicated her life to justice and equality in South Africa. She was a highly principled and committed human being. She was strongly influenced by her Christian views that all people are created equal by God. She was convinced that the racist apartheid state had to be opposed.
Early Life and Education
Born April 8, 1905, in Sussex, England, Helen Joseph spent most of her childhood in London. Helen Beatrice May Fennell was born in Sussex, England, in 1905. Raised amidst the bustling streets of London, Helen’s early years were like seeds planted in the fertile soil of curiosity. Her thirst for knowledge led her to the hallowed halls of the University of London, where she cultivated her intellect and nurtured her dreams.
She graduated from King's College, University of London, in 1927. Graduating in English, she took up a teaching job in India before moving to South Africa in the 1930s, where she married a dentist and joined the club of well-off white South-Africans. In 1923 Helen attended the University of Cape Town to study Zulu and Setswana, graduating from King's College London in 1927. After teaching in America for five years, she intended to return home via England.
Life in South Africa and Political Awakening
India beckoned with its exotic allure, and Helen found herself teaching at Mahbubia School for girls in Hyderabad. She taught for three years in India, then came to South Africa in 1931, where she met and married Billie Joseph. In Durban she met and in 1931 married Billie Joseph, a Jewish dentist 17 years her senior. For the next eight years, Helen did not work-her husband thought it inappropriate-and spent her days as befitting the white upper-middle class, coming in contact with black South Africans only in their positions as domestic workers and gardeners.
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She served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II as an information and welfare officer. After the war, she divorced Billie Joseph. In 1951 Helen first met Solly Sachs when she applied for the job of Society. In 1951 Helen took a job with the militant Garment Workers Union, led by Solly Sachs. Sachs had a profound influence on Helen - from him she learnt her politics. Through him she came to see the true face of apartheid - the physical and psychological oppression of people not classified white She joined the political fray, not as an ideologue, but as one moved to great anger by the injustices she witnessed.
Helen was appalled by the double oppression of black women, and was a pivotal figure in the formation of the Federation of South African Women. On April 17, 1954, the multiracial Federation of South African Women (FSAW) was founded as an umbrella organization for affiliated organizations such as the ANC Women's League and trade unions. Joseph helped Hilda Bernstein and Ray Alexander, now legendary activists in the struggle against apartheid, to organize the inaugural conference, and she recalled that the gathering "drew over 150 women from all over the country, some wearing brilliantly coloured national dress, all eager to participate in the proceedings. Interpreters were sometimes hard put to accommodate the variety of languages-English, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho and Afrikaans." Joseph was elected honorary secretary of the Transvaal branch and in 1956 became secretary of the Federation.
As the shadows of apartheid darkened the land, Helen’s voice rang out like a clarion call in the wilderness, rallying the oppressed and inspiring the downtrodden. With courage as her compass and determination as her guide, Helen stood shoulder to shoulder with giants of the struggle, her spirit unbroken and her resolve unyielding.
Women's March on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, August 9, 1956
Key Moments in the Anti-Apartheid Struggle
The 9th August 1956 was one of the most important moments of her illustrious political career, when, with the FEDSAW leaders, she spearheaded a march of 20,000 women to Pretoria's Union Buildings to protest against the pass laws. On August 9, 1956, 20,000 women expressed their anger at apartheid policies, one of them being the obligation for women to carry passes, a move that limited their freedom of movement and chances to work and care for their families. Together with a black, a "colored" and an Indian woman, Helen Joseph led the march and left bundles of petitions at Prime Minister J. G. Strijdom's office. The Women’s March of 1956, orchestrated under her leadership, was a symphony of defiance, echoing across the land like a thunderclap in the night.
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The ANC-led Congress Alliance united parties from all racial groups separated under apartheid with the aim of leveraging support across these groups. Her ability to articulate her views made her one of the outstanding leaders of that alliance. As a founding member of the Congress of Democrats and a leader in the 1955 Congress of the People, Joseph played a pivotal role in shaping the Freedom Charter.
Joseph volunteered during the Defiance Campaign, and was part of writing the Freedom Charter. Through her leadership roles in the Federation and in the Congress of Democrats, Joseph's life became intertwined with most of the significant political figures and key events in the antiapartheid struggle within South Africa. She helped organize the Congress of the People held in 1955 at Klipfontein, where the now famous Freedom Charter was read to call "the people of South Africa, black and white, to come together to adopt a people's Freedom Charter." Joseph worked closely with ANC leaders and met Chief Albert Luthuli, who was head of the ANC, and also got to know Nelson Mandela.
The government targeted members of the Congress Alliance as traitors, and in 1956 Joseph joined Nelson Mandela, Ruth First, and 153 other activists as defendants in what came to be known as the Treason Trial, which dragged on until 1961. Arrested on a charge of high treason in December 1956, banned in 1957, Helen's life became a long saga of police persecution. Joseph was arrested in December 1956 as part of the Treason Trial, and banned in 1957. In 1957, Joseph was banned from publicly opposing the government through her speech and protests.
While out on bail, Joseph continued in her role as secretary of the Transvaal branch of the FSAW and organized more women's conferences across the Transvaal. The government did nottake kindly to this activity and on April 23, 1957, Joseph was banned for five years: she could not leave Johannesburg and could not attend any political meetings of any kind. While still on trial in 1960 and still banned, she was detained along with thousands of others in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre, when police killed more than 60 peaceful demonstrators who were protesting the pass system. Joseph remained in prison for five months, but the government's intimidation tactics proved useless: on March 29, 1961, the court found the defendants in the Treason Trial not guilty, and all were set free.
Meanwhile, the government had banned the ANC in 1960, leading Mandela and others to believe that they had no option but to go underground and launch an armed struggle against the apartheid government. On October 13, Joseph became the first person to be put under house arrest. She was the first person to be placed under house arrest. In spite of her acquittal, Helen Joseph became on 13 October 1962 the first person placed under house arrest under the Sabotage Act introduced by the apartheid government. She endured, and survived threats, bullets shot through her bedroom window late at night, even a bomb wired to her front gate. Despite facing persecution, arrest, and even assassination attempts, Helen remained steadfast in her quest for freedom.
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Now she had to report to a police station every day and stay at home each night after 6:30 and on weekends. She could not "leave the magisterial area of Johannesburg," she recalled, "or be in any black area, or factory, or communicate with any banned or listed person. Nor could any of my friends visit me in my home, or even walk down my garden path, nor could I attend any gatherings, social or political." Her last banning order was lifted when she was in her 80th year.
Timeline of Key Events in Helen Joseph's Life
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1905 | Born in Sussex, England |
| 1927 | Graduated from King's College, University of London |
| 1931 | Moved to South Africa and married Billie Joseph |
| 1951 | Took a job with the Garment Workers Union |
| 1954 | Helped form the Federation of South African Women (FSAW) |
| 1955 | Participated in the Congress of the People |
| 1956 | Led the Women's March on the Union Buildings in Pretoria |
| 1956 | Arrested for treason |
| 1957 | Banned for five years |
| 1962 | Became the first person placed under house arrest |
| 1992 | Died on Christmas Day |
From the late 1970s, Christmas Day was "Open Day" at Helen Joseph's house for those involved in the anti-apartheid struggle. All comrades brought food and at 12 noon everyone raised their glasses to those imprisoned on Robben Island. (Apparently the Robben Islanders were aware of the ritual.) On 25 December 1992, Joseph was in hospital and the venue moved to 11 Plantation Road, The Gardens.
Helen Joseph | Helen Joseph South African Anti-apartheid & Women's Rights Activists | Google Doodle
Legacy
One of Helen's many endearing qualities was that there was no separation between her public and private life. The loyalty and devotion she gave to the struggle was the same as that she gave to her many friends who became her family. There were so many aspects to Helen's personality. She was also a gregarious person with a wonderful sense of humour. She loved a party.
Her two favourite days in the year were her birthday, April 8, and Christmas Day. On both days her home would be filled, not only with friends and colleagues, but with the tributes, flowers and fond greetings from every corner of the world. In the early 1960s Helen started a tradition of remembering all those in exile, in prison and those that have died in the struggle, every Christmas day at noon. Even during the years of house arrest and bans, this commemoration continued.
At times it was only possible for her friends and families of prisoners to file past her gate one at a time, but Helen was always there to greet and encourage them. Despite the apartheid regime’s relentless efforts to silence her, Joseph’s legacy endured. Her home became a sanctuary for activists, and her “Open Day” Christmas gatherings honored imprisoned freedom fighters.
She wrote three books: If This Be Treason; Tomorrow's Sun, in which she documented her 8,000 mile search for people banished to remote regions; and her autobiography, Side by Side. The trial inspired Joseph to write her first book, If This Be Treason, in which she recounted the events of that period; it was banned in South Africa but published in England in 1963. While under her first house arrest, Joseph wrote her second book, Tomorrow's Sun, about the hundreds of black activists who had been banished to remote parts of the country because of their political activity.
In recognition of her tireless efforts, Helen was honoured with the Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe Medal, the highest award bestowed by the ANC for her devotion to the liberation struggle. Her legacy lives on in the Helen Joseph Hospital. The renaming of the former J. G. Strijdom Hospital in 1997 was a posthumous victory over the prime minister the women once rallied against. It was one of many symbolic acts carried out by Joseph's long-time comrades-in-arms.
At this time of transformation in our country, it is inspiring to remember those who transformed themselves decades ago. Helen lived in a non-racial South Africa when all about her thought white baasskap [domination] would last an eternity. As we reflect on Helen Joseph’s remarkable life, let us draw inspiration from her example. Let us stand tall in the face of injustice, knowing that the flame of freedom she lit burns bright within us all.
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